Rock bottom service on the web is killing customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is on the decrease and blaming the internet would be obvious. Nowadays, it is very easy for the customer to gain access to different providers and compare prices between them. The user access is part of the explanation for the loyalty change, but it is just as important to realise that online shopping has not overcome its service problems.

The fact is that online shopping is fantastic – both for retailers and for customers. And at the same time the internet is horrible.

As a retailer, it is fantastic that you can contact and serve your customers in their homes and get your money right away. It is just as fantastic that the customer can complete the whole process from searching the market and making a decision to making an order and paying without even getting out of the chair - when things work that is.

When things go wrong, it is just as horrible for the customer because of slow, difficult and confusing websites and lacking possibilities of getting help with filing complaints. The first case often results in interrupted buys and the latter in furious anger, bad recommendations to your network of acquaintances and maybe even hate pages on the internet. In any case, the retailer will never profit from these situations.

In the midst of the joy of being able to minimise the use of employees, the retailers neglect being present when the customers need them. The good old principle: A complaint is a gift - is easily forgotten. By not being present, you leave behind a dark trace of bad customer experiences and you prevent yourself from learning from your own mistakes.

The websites must be pulled out of the IT engine room. They must be critically observed in the light of the proper analysis tools in order to see exactly where the customers opt out. There has to be an option of making use of personal contact when the customers find it necessary – a hotline, a chat room or maybe even a third option. The minimum requirements of personal contact must be that it is achievable, personal and based on employees who have mental energy, who know the website they are servicing and who have good competences within the fields of communication, sales and service.

Good customer service on the web is an investment. But these additional expenses – in proportion to this rock bottom service concept which some companies make use of – must be considered in proportion to a highly probable long-term profit achieved through loyalty build on good customer experiences.

In the Greek epic poem “The Iliad”, Sisyphus is sentenced to rolling a big rock up a mountain. Every time he has nearly reached the top where he will be freed from his captivity, the rock rolls back to the bottom of the mountain and he must start over. Like that there are many customers in e-commerce who face unfeasible websites. Do the customers really deserve to be treated like the man who opposed the Gods?